


Missing Dog

by Marvel_Mania



Series: Meet-Cutes [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, War Veteran Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23623798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvel_Mania/pseuds/Marvel_Mania
Summary: When Bucky's dog, Winter, goes missing Steve just so happens to find her.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Meet-Cutes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700515
Comments: 8
Kudos: 219





	Missing Dog

**Author's Note:**

> I am back from the dead! While in quarantine I finally got over my writer's block and wrote a story. The usual thanks to my amazing friends!
> 
> Enjoy!

When Bucky had come home from overseas he had been a wreck. He had locked in his home until his best friend, Natasha, stormed into his apartment and basically made him get off his ass and get help. She wanted him to go to a therapist but they ended up compromising with Bucky going to the VA regularly. Everyone there was nice, a little messed up but so was he. One of the suggestions that he took to heart was taking responsibility for another living thing. The woman who suggested it said that her life didn’t truly start again until she found out that she was pregnant and that she was responsible for that new life.

A baby was a bit much for Bucky so he had gone out to closest kill shelter and got the dog that was next for the chopping block. That dog happened to be a black and white Pitbull who was only six months old. She had been in the shelter for most of her life and hadn’t even been given a name when Bucky decided to talk her home. Bucky had named her Winter since he got her on the winter solstice. Winter had helped Bucky. Some days she was the only reason that he pulled himself out of bed.

When Natasha had met Winter for the first time she nearly melted, which was really weird to see for Bucky since he was partially convinced that Natasha was a spy or something. Natasha took it upon herself to become Winter’s godmother and proceeded to spoil her rotten. “You do realize that as much as we both love her, Winter isn’t an actual baby,” Bucky asked one night when the three of them were in his apartment watching some true-crime show while eating takeout on his couch.

“Shut your mouth,” Natasha said as she gave Winter a bit of the food from her container.

“Stop that, she’s going to get fat,” Bucky whined causing Winter and Natasha to side-eye him. He made a mental note that his best friend and dog had been hanging out too much.

“You take her for a run every morning. I think she’ll be fine,” with that seemingly settled they went back to their show without another word.

  
•••

  
“You’ll take her on a walk every day?”

“Yes.”

“And make sure to leave the tv on for her so she doesn’t get lonely at night.”

“Bucky, go. Becca is about to have your niece. I will take care of Winter until you get back. I know everything someone needs to take care of her.”

“I owe you, Nat. Thank you so much,” he said and gave Natasha a light hug before dropping to one knee in front of Winter. “You be a good girl four your aunt Nat. I’ll see you in a week baby girl.” He scratched behind Winter’s eyes and kissed her on her nose before standing and leaving.

It was the first time he had gone any amount of time without seeing Winter since he had gotten her but Natasha sent him photos every day. He was grateful for the pictures because they let him not worry and focus on helping Becca and her husband with their new baby girl. She had been born a week early and Becca’s husband hadn’t been able to change his off days so Bucky had played the night and shining armor to help his sister out until she was able to move around a little more on her own and had someone in the house to help her out.

Bucky didn’t really have a job, he had started a nonprofit organization to help animals like Winter had been. Animals who were in kill shelters who just needed a little bit of love. With his newfound platform, Winter Soldiers, he shared stories or animals that needed a forever home and was very adamant about the health benefits of having a pet. He had started organizing events where people could meet animals needing a forever home and raise money. He had also started therapy animal programs wherever he could and all of the animals there were up for adoption. He took animals to school events, veteran events, nursing homes, and any other places he was invited.

Winter Soldiers was fairly small considering how big the entire thing had become. Bucky and Natasha had been the ones to truly start it but they also had a lot of good people working with them. Natasha’s boyfriend, Bruce, did a lot of work when he wasn’t at his actual job. Natasha and Bucky’s friend Clint had adopted a one-eyed golden retriever named Lucky. Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons who had originally adopted a kitten from Winter Soldiers and came to work with them not long after. They also had a lot of good people who volunteered.

“I love you, Becca. You need anything just give me a call,” Bucky said as he hugged his baby sister tightly.

“I love you too, Jamie. You know you’re free to visit anytime you want.”

Just as Bucky was about to pull out of Becca’s driveway his phone buzzed. He checked and saw that it was Natasha and Winter with a caption of _‘Someone is excited to see you.’_ Bucky smiled and loved the photos and sent a message that he was on his way home before putting his phone away and started home.

  
•••

  
Something was off when he got to his apartment. Normally Winter came racing to meet him as soon as he entered the door but the apartment was silent except for the soft sound of the television. “Winter,” he called incase she was sleeping but nothing came of it. He slowly closed the door and softly made his way to his kitchen and grabbed a knife before inspecting the rest of the apartment. During his search, he found a broken window and several items from his apartment missing but nothing big such as the tv or microwave. He started muttering expletives to himself.

He sent a quick text to Natasha asking when she left and then called the police. He wasn’t too worried about the items that had been stolen, he had good insurance that would cover most if not all of it, but he was very worried about Winter. He had seen news stories about bunglers or murders killing dogs if they got in their way but there had been no blood anywhere in the apartment so that gave him hope for Winter’s sake. He reported the break-in though Natasha was there before the police. Bucky was in his bedroom, trying to see what was missing when he realized something that he actually cared about (other than Winter) that was missing. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he yelled and had to restrain himself from kicking the wall.

“What is it,” Natasha asked helping him look through his apartment. She was more likely to notice small things missing than he is.

“My dog tags. They’re missing,” he said and this time he couldn’t help throwing the first thing he grabbed, which was thankfully a pillow.

The police came not long after that. Natasha helped him deal with all the bullshit that came with robbed. “My dog, Winter, is missing,” he said when the police were about to leave.

“Put up posters,” was all the officer said before leaving.

  
•••

  
The person who robbed him, some drug addict looking for stuff to pawn for money, was apparently not the brightest because he tried to pawn Bucky’s dog tags. With the guy in custody, Bucky was able to get the small items that had been taken but that still didn’t count for Winter so he started putting up posters and he posted about it on his social media and Winter Soldiers.

  
•••

  
Steve was out for his morning run when he found a Pitbull wondering around the park. Steve looked around to see if the dog’s owner was around but it was still early morning. Steve whistled and got the dog’s attention. “Come here,” he said and squatted down at be closer to the dog’s size. The dog slowly trotted over to Steve but looked cautious. “Hey, honey,” he said as he stuck his hand out for the dog to smell. The dog smelled his hand got closer to him and started to whine. Not knowing what else to do, Steve took the dog home.

Over the following days, Steve tried to find the owner but with no such. He tried, he really did, not to get attached but he found that he liked having the dog around during his day to day life. He was able to stay home for his work as a graphic designer and he liked not being alone all day. Soon the two-week mark hit and he still hadn’t found the owner. Whenever Sam came over he seemed to side-eye the dog as if he was trying to place it.

“I know this dog,” he said after two and a half weeks of Steve having the dog at his apartment.

“How,” Steve questioned as the dog had its head on Steve’s lap on the couch.

“I don’t know but I know this dog.”

“Do you know who’s she is,” Steve asked. If he felt a pang of loss at the idea of losing the dog and then guilt over it, he kept it to himself.

“If I don’t know how I know her, why do you think I know her owner,” Sam questioned lightheartedly.

Not knowing what else to do the went back to their action movie.

  
•••

  
Four weeks.

One month.

Winter had been missing for four weeks and Bucky was starting to lose hope. He had known that he would probably outlive Winter but she was still fairly young and he missed her. Nat was coming by every day and helping him.

“You might want to make another plea on the Winter Soldiers social media,” Natasha lightly suggested. “Go shower and then we can talk about other options.”

Bucky was reverting back to himself before he had adopted Winter. He knew it was kind of sad that he relied so heavily on Winter but she helped. After he had adopted her his bad days had gotten fewer and fewer. He showered and gotten cleaned up before joining Natasha in the living room.

With Natasha’s help he made another plea for Winter or any information about where she may be. He had a picture up to the side of the video of his most recent photo of him and Winter. By the time his minute-long video was over, he was crying. “It’s okay, James. We’ll find Winter. I promise,” Natasha said as she pulled her best friend into her arms. She felt guilty that Winter had gotten out even though she had left only an hour and a half before Bucky had gotten home. “We’ll find her.”

  
•••

  
Steve had been scrolling through Instagram mindlessly for a while with the tv on in the background. The dog, he really needed to figure out her name, was curled next to him until he stopped on a video of an attractive guy. The guy had long brown hair and he looked almost as broad as Steve but he looked really upset. He unmuted the video and turned the volume up before restarting it. As soon as he started talking the dog’s head shot up and she started wagging her tail which is a reaction Steve only got when they were about to go on a run.

 _“Hi. I’m sure some of you know but I’m Bucky Barnes. My best friend Natasha and I started Winter Soldiers,”_ the man paused and the dog’s ears perked up. _“We started in honor or my Pitbull, Winter. Four weeks ago my apartment was broken into and Winter got out. I don’t know if she’s okay or even alive. This is one of her most recent photos. If you have any information please contact me.”_

That ended the video but the man, Bucky, had started crying about halfway through. Contact information was below the post and at the very end of the video. The dog from the video, Winter, was the one looking at him expectantly. “I guess we found your human,” Steve said sadly and patted Winter on the head. He sent a message to Bucky’s Instagram page leaving a picture of Winter and the explanation of how he found her and his phone number. He was on his morning run, which had included Winter for the past month, when his phone started ringing.

“Steve Rogers,” he said into the phone.

“Hi, um, I’m Bucky Barnes. You messaged me last night about Winter,” the voice said.

“Oh, yeah. I’m actually out with her on a run.”

“Can I meet you or you meet me?”

“Uh, sure. We’re in Brooklyn, I don’t know if that’s close to you but we can meet you wherever,” Steve said not exactly looking forward to giving up Winter.

“I actually live in Brooklyn. This is great.”

  
•••

  
Steve was standing at an apartment door with Winter wagging her tail as hard as she could. She was looking between Steve and the door, waiting for him to knock, and for the briefest of moments, he considered scooping Winter up and taking her back to his apartment and keeping her. He considered it for one selfish moment before he knocked on the door. He heard a dull thud, a curse, and then the door was swinging open.

In the blink of an eye, the man who had opened the door was on his knees with an armful of dog squirming on top of him. Winter was licking Bucky’s face and Bucky was crying. He was also muttering something that Steve couldn’t quite make out. He almost felt like he was intruding on a private moment. As if sensing his hesitance, Bucky looked up at Steve with the biggest smile Steve had seen in a long time. Bucky stood up and before Steve could say anything he was being hugged tightly.

“Christ, I could kiss you,” Bucky said when he finally let go of Steve.

“I would settle for dinner sometime,” Steve said without thinking but it earned a grin from Bucky which made it worth it. “I’m Steve Rogers,” he said realizing that they had never even properly met.

“James Barnes but everyone calls me Bucky except my sister and best friend,” Bucky said still with a massive smile. “Would you like two come in and have coffee or something?”

Coffee or something ended up being lunch and then dinner and the night. Steve and Bucky had ended up falling asleep on the couch, which was absolutely not big enough for them, and woke up with Winter somehow finding enough space to squeeze between them.

  
•••

  
One of the _Winter Soldiers_ most liked Instagram posts was of Winter being the ring bearer of Steve and Bucky’s wedding and another on was a family photo of them when they adopted a golden retriever who was named Cap.


End file.
